Izzy ’25, describes a typical morning at school followed by an afternoon scavenger hunt in her favorite part of town . In an effort to continue a fully immersive language experience, this blog post is written in both Spanish and English.
Hoy caminé a clase y estuve un poco cansado. Pero la energía que mi profesor Juan lleva a clase me ayuda a mejorar. Cuando estamos en la escuela el tiempo está dividido en cinco partes. Nosotros tenemos clase, descanso, clase, descanso, y clase final. La primera clase siempre es una actividad que todos estamos moviendo. Entonces nosotros fuimos a hacer videos para enseñar más de Cádiz. Elena ’25, Leila ’25, Maisy ’26 y yo hicimos un video muy cómico. Cuando terminaste caminamos a clase y vimos entrar para empezar el descanso y vimos a nuestros amigos. Nuestros amigos son las chicas de la escuela, ellas viven en Cádiz y tienen 11 años. Son muy amables y simpáticas, siempre corren a saludar a Maisy ’26 y yo. El viernes es el último día de escuela para ellas, entonces hoy fue el último día que las veríamos. Todas las niñas hicieron regalos para Maisy ’26 y yo, como esposas, dibujos, y letras. En ese momento yo tuve una sonrisa muy grande en mi cara. Durante el resto de clase aprendo más acentos y tildas y nosotros jugamos mafia pero en español. Then my roommates and I walked home and ate the chicken and pasta from Mama Victoria (our host mom) which was followed by our daily nap during siesta time.
At 4:30pm we all met up at the bus stop to take it down to the historic part of town (my favorite area). When we got there we were split up into groups of two to complete a scavenger hunt. Maisy ’26 and I were grouped together, not knowing where to start. We followed behind Emily ’25 and Walker ’25. They led us to our first stop which was the cathedral, when we saw that other groups were following along behind us we decided to let them all pass while we asked the security guard for the answers. Feeling a bit sluggish from my siesta I was a bit uneasy about navigating the historic part. However, as we kept talking to more locals and asking for clues not only built my confidence in my ability to speak Spanish but got me excited to keep exploring the town. We ended up tying with another group for first place. After exploring some more with Elena ’25, Emily ’25, Gabriel ’25 and Luka ’25 we all traveled back home. Mama Victoria was excited to see us and we debriefed the day while preparing dinner. After eating our delicious food I watched the Spain vs. Italy game with my host father Pepe. While I might still be a bit jet lagged, I wake up everyday excited to learn more about the culture, language, and people of Cádiz. This day was another reminder of the fun that we are having as a group and the progress we are all making as Spanish learners.
